NH1 News

Kevin Landrigan: NH's permit to carry concealed gun may be history

CONCORD - A permit to carry a concealed gun. You have had to have one in New Hampshire since 1923.

Those days may be numbered as more than 150 gun rights advocates turn out to push for its repeal.

Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley says his bill should make the state safer.

"And it's similar to a law on the books in the state of Vermont for a long, long time that allows concealed carry without a permit and Vermont is the safest state in the nation,'' Bradley said.

Susan Olsen with the Women's Defense League say it strikes a blow for female freedom.

"What this bill does is it says women have an equal right to protect themselves in their home and anywhere they choose to be,'' Olsen said.

But Tuftonboro Police Chief Andrew Shagoury warns it's an overreach and a threat to public safety.

"Elimination of the license to carry concealed would allow anyone to carry a firearm loaded, in vehicles, and allow people presently prohibited from doing so, it would allow them to do so,'' Shagoury said.

That's because state laws regarding who can carry a concealed weapon are less stringent than federal laws in some cases.

This campaign's fallen flat in the past, but the times they are a changing. House Speaker Shawn Jasper's first act was to let lawmakers and the public carry concealed in this House chamber and the gallery.

NH1 has learned police chiefs have already been talking to Gov. Maggie Hassan and are worried that this is a bill she may have to veto. Critics say this is a dangerous bill. Political observers say it is even a more dangerous bill to veto.